Improvement in the manufacture of rochelle salts and borax



l i To allwhon t it may concern:

vtorfon antenna, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

Letters Patent No. 112,316, dated March 7, 1871.

" IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OFjROC'HELLE SALTS AND BORAX.

I Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of'the same.

, Be it, known that I, VICTOR G.jBLoEnn, of the city of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of- New York, haveginvented certain Improvements in the, Manufacture of Rochelle 'Salts and Borax; and I do hereby declare f that the following is'a full and exact description of themodus opemurli of my invention. a f-The nature of a my invention consists ingetting entirely rid of the large admixture of mechanical and organic impurities contained and suspended in the first or crude'solutionofRochelle salts or borax, which is done by a series of simple manipulations'in conjunction with blood onalbumen. i

In, order that others skilled in the 'art may make use of "my invention, I will proceed to describe it in detail. y 61 l The first Solutiodrobtaihed by neutralizing the bitartrate of potassa (or boracic-acid, as the case may be) byor in a solution of carbonate of soda, is made inlthe ordinarymanner, in alead-linedwooden vat.-

This solutiou-vatcontains two coils oflleaden pipe. Oneooiladmits .wet? isteamtothesolutiou by perforations along its length; the other is'a' coil for heating or evaporating the mixture, and exhausts into the i i i The solution having been made in the ordinary manner,- the, by wet steam, the mixture is allowed to cool until itsteinpe t not excee 20 Fahrenheit. i 1

From two to six gallons of fresh blood are then addedtoevery five hundred gallons of lye, (the amount varying, as experienoe will dictate, according to the amount of impurity the solution contains) and the whole mass is stirred until i the various ingredients are i y (thoroughly. and complethlymixedn Thereupou ,tbc

steam is turned on through the heateror closed steam coil, (no wet or free steam being employed) until the; liquid is brought to avery slow andeasysimmeru The blood coagulates and carries with ita considerable proportion of the suspended impurities. .When a-tough and solid scum has been formed upon the snifaceof the liquid, the former. is removed by perforated ladles and thrown up n a fine meshed brass H sieve. suspended directly over the tank. By these means the scum is drained of considerable-of the adhering solution, whichflowsback into the tank. 'if When the scum has been thorpughly removed from the surface of the liquid the steuni isshut oif, and the y solution in the tank willbe foundmuch clearer than before,.although still rgely contaminated with -impurities. H

To effect the fine as follows: 1

ation ofthelye I proceed The evaporator is also a'lead-lined woodentank,

about half tbesizeof the solution-tafikt For conveuiencc sake the twotauksshould be placed side by side.

, under-a common PIGSS.

Over the evaporator is suspended a large bag of thick, coarse, filtering felt, into the opening of which a fine-meshed brass sieve is hung in such a manner that it is readily movable The'half-clarified solution in the first or dissolvingtank is now drawn or pumped upon the wire-screen over the felt-bag. The coarser impurities are collected upon the-brass wire, while the finely-divided ones are caught in the felt. 1

The solution which runs through the felt into the evaporator is now perfectly clear and free from mechanical impurities.

In place of the wire-gauze a simple bag, made of two'thicknesses of felt, may be used, but I prefer the gauze-sieve, as it can be readily and frequently s moved and emptied, thus preventing effectually an clogging upofi the felt, which isdiflicult and troiible some toe-lean. v i

The scum remdved from the surface of the lye is treated with some water, poured into bags, and placed The murky solution running from the press is added to the crude lye again. The

now clear andpure lye in the evaporator is boiled down and crystallized in the ordinary manner, and the subsequent recrystallization and purification are I conducted in the ordinary manner and according to the old method.

The advantages of my method over the old system, still exclusively employed by other manufacturers, may be briefly stated, as follows:

According to the-old system the first solution of the salt is. made very wcak,'and allowed to stand (the time varying from one to ten days) until all of the heavier impurities have subsided to the bottom;

Wheat-he liquid has become clear it is drawn ofi of the sediment and evaporated, and crystallized and recrystallized until sufficiently pure.

.This necessarily involves-a considerable amount of apparatus and a long time.

In my process the crude liquid is made much stronger than in the old way, and still'is clearer than if allowed to settle for two weeks, and can be boiled downin about half the time:

By my method a better Rochelle salt and a better box-ax ar'eniade in much less than half the time, and

at a much cheaper rate, than by any other process now in use. There is also great ecouom y in space and apparatus. f a a Whatl claim as my invention, and desire to se-- cure by Letters Patent, is-

The mode herein described for the purification of Rochelle salts or borax-lye by the application of blood,

substantially in the manner and for the purpose here- I in set forth.

Witnesses Wasnmerron Gonnmr, CHARLES FROEBEL.

VICTOR e. BLOEDE. [n sf] 

